Producers Sprucing Up ‘Rosie’

Sat., Aug. 29, 1998

New York Daily News

In the wake of diminishing ratings, the producers of the syndicated “Rosie O’Donnell Show” are shaking things up a bit.

When the show debuts for its third season on Sept. 7, the format will be a little looser, with O’Donnell spending more time on celebrity interviews and an added emphasis on lifestyle issues.

Also, O’Donnell will be adding a segment where she’ll talk up a group of kids on the show, according to the trade paper Daily Variety. The show is also getting a new set, according to a source.

Word of the changes comes as ratings have fallen for the series.

While certainly a dominant show in many markets, “The Rosie O’Donnell” show has lost some of the buzz and momentum it garnered when it launched three summers ago.

In the most recent weekly Nielsen accounting, “Rosie O’Donnell” averaged a 3.4 rating (percentage of the nation’s 98 million TV homes), which put it in a tie for sixth place among talk shows. Compared to the same week a year ago, ratings for “O’Donnell” were down 13 percent.

Also, last May, the most recent full-strength representative ratings period, ratings were down 9 percent from the same period the year before, according to Nielsen.

Industry observers suggest “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” should be showing year-to-year increases rather than declines because after its superhot first season many stations moved the show to better time slots.

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